Cinema Laika (Veljko Vidak, 2023) Finland

Reviewed by Lauren Howard.  Viewed at Metro 4 Theatres, Santa Barbara, CA

U.S. Premier.

If I were a Film Studies major, I would watch Cinema Laika repeatedly. The film is an homage to iconic Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismauki. This film is the chronicle of him building a new cinema and wine bar for his hometown, Karkkila,  to take the place of his old one that was taken over in Helsinki.

Shot in documentary style one finds that this is not the first rodeo for this style and subject matter for the writing partners Emmanuelle Felce and Veljko Vidak, the director. The film-on-film sub-genre for this production is layered and paradoxically reminiscent of Aki’s former works. Even if you have never seen any of his films, you can start to see that every aspect of this film is taken from the style of the legendary Finnish filmmaker.>

I was not prepared for the boredom that was intentionally infused into this film. Karkkila is boring! The alarming lack of mealtimes, nourishment, or bedtimes; rest gives the passing of time a very surreal quality. The passing of time is profoundly unmarked by either of these daily routines.  I would have to go back and watch it over again to try and count how many days go by in this film before the construction for Cinema Laika is complete.

Thank goodness the cast are informed participants. According to IMDb the prolific filmmaker used many of these same characters as recurring cast members. playing themselves in many of his films. The interviews and candid conversations of these characters make up the meat on the bones of this film.

Aki from early childhood could only be described as a cinephile. During his interviews in this film, he speaks repeatedly of his original intrigue with film and how his filmmaking style was formed. If I was a film studies major, I might have caught on a lot quicker to how many movie tricks and film references that were lovingly used from the master filmmaker’s other films. I would have to study this film to find the references to his other films and films that influenced the forming genius of Kaurismauka as the writer, producer, and distributor he became. I am afraid a lot of the cinephile insider richness of this film flew right over my head.

Aki Kaurismauki is the master of this form of film. Like many other forms, one may not be a fan, but one can pick up somehow when they are in the presence of greatness. I did not know anything about Finish film before I sat down to watch the movie. The writers, and director, and all the people of the town let me know. The real clue that there is more than meets the eye going on in this film, is when renowned American independent film advocate and filmmaker, Jimmy Jarmuch (Strangers in Paradise, 1984), is interviewed in “London” just before Cinema Laika is finished.

There is something going on here. I wished I were a cinephile so I could understand Cinema Laika better. Cinema Laika entertained and educated me. I was able to appreciate the supreme talent of the filmmakers and the man that they artfully spoon fed me as a newbie.  I imagine film studies majors could study this film for decades.  Certainly, true longtime fans will be delighted.